Great e-mail for Oct. 25th.

Dear Dad and Mom,

This past week was a really good week. We didn't have a baptism but we taught some really powerful lessons where the spirit was really strong and helped sort out some peoples doubts. We had a baptism marked and we had the interview but it turns out that she had some problems with one of the questions and needs to be interviewed by President Dias now so we have to mark a date with him. We have been teaching a lot of really good people, there is this teenager that we are teaching, his name is Helio his older sister and her husband were baptized a little while back and got him interested in the church and now he wants to be baptized along with his little brother and his other sister so that was really amazing. We have also been teaching another guy called Rober and he is really cool. He went to church yesterday and loved it a lot, he said that he felt something different about our church. Well yesterday we passed by there to talk to him and his friends and ended up meeting another man who now is interested, the Lords hand is helping us out a lot. This past Thursday I had my Hump day and we went to one of our investigators house and my comp taught us all how to make pizza and then we watched a church movie and ate the pizza. It was a great way to celebrate one year in the mission. On Saturday we were teaching Rober and his friends and it was more of a question and answer session for us which was awesome, but one of them asked us a funny question she asked us why we had the steeples on our church because she said that someone told her that the steeples were to poke Jesus when he returned to the earth for the second coming. I started to laugh really hard when she said that and almost couldn't stop, I have heard some pretty ridiculous things about our church here in the mission but this tops them all. It is amazing some of the things that people say or what the pastors of other churches say and tell there members to say to us. I think that it was about two weeks ago we were drinking Guaraná da amazonia and this guy from another church came up to me and my comp and started asking harmless questions like why we both had the name of Elder and other harmless questions like this. Then he started calling us and other members of our church crazy because we didn't worship God we worshiped Joseph Smith and other things like that we had a recent convert with us this day so it was a little bit strange for her but it is a thing that happens almost daily here people here try to burn us about our church and everything that their pastor tells them to say. One of the things that they try to get us on is a scripture in Galatians 1:8 that talks about an angel that will come down from heaven and announce another Gospel and it will be spread across the earth, and they say that this is what happened to Joseph Smith with Angel Moroni that appeared to him just ridicules things like that. Anyway so we still haven't moved to our new house yet but we have permission from President to do so we are looking for a moving truck and we will be moving. Our new house will be the one of the biggest and nicest in the mission it will be good. I thought about some other things that I think that I would like for my Christmas package, I would love more starbursts and Rootbeer barrels would be great too but for right now thats it. I dont really have much else to say for this past week. I love you all and I will see you all here in less than one year now

Love your Son

Elder Crittenden

e-mail of October 18th.

Dear Dad and Mom,

Things are still going good here in Acailandia and in the mission field. It is really cool to train a new missionary and to be his first companion. This past week nothing big happened really, we are teaching a couple of really good investigators ones name is Rober and he is really cool, he made contact with us in the road and always had the desire to talk to the missionaries but never had the courage to do so until the other day. While my comp and I were walking in the road just talking he came up to the side of my companion and my comp greeted him and began talking to him and he told us that he wanted to hear about what we did and we marked Sunday to go by his house. We also invited him to movie night in the church and he invited some friends of his and all of them went. So on Sunday when we got there he was in front of his friends house on the other side of the road and we went over there and started teaching them all. Well thus far they have done everything that we have asked them and they are reading in the Book of Mormon. They couldn't go to church yesterday because Rober was working and the other ones just had an excuse not to go. We are going to keep teaching them and invite them to be baptized this next time that we teach him. We are going to baptize a girl this week called Deusa we have been teaching her for a while and when we taught her the Plan of Salvation and explained about baptism she had a lot of questions and we helped her understand the importance of it. When we invited her to be baptized she accepted it and will be baptized this week. We have two other people who are marked to be baptized this week with Deusa, but they didn't go to church yesterday and one of them drinks coffee and is having a tough time quitting. I hope that all works out and things continue forward. So here in Brasil they don't have Halloween here or don't even celebrate anything that is close to it. One thing I do know is that because the catholic church is so strong here in Brasil they have a lot of holidays for Saints that the catholic church has. So my comp is really cool I like him a lot as my first son in the mission I am proud of him. When he got here the first couple of times I could tell that he was nervous about talking and teaching and sometimes got lost in the lessons but he is over that now. He is a convert to the church with 9 years as a member, he told me a story about when they converted to the church that all of the people on their road are catholic and when they converted and began taking part in the church the people on their road excluded them and I dont remember the other word in English but I think you know what word. Anyway the people on their road wouldnt sell food or other things to them because they were members of the church. He has a girlfriend waiting for him he thinks but she hasnt written him since he got in the mission, but said he recieved an email today from her so hope it was a good email and not a blue email ha ha. He has the best Penmanship that I have ever seen and he likes to write things for me, I will take a picture of it and send it to you. My shoes are wearable still but I don't walk with them in the road because they have holes in the bottom and what not but these wolverine boots are really nice and I bet will last another year still. So President approved the house that we want to move into so we will probably be moving into it pretty soon I hope. It will be the nicest house in the mission I think. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 living room type things, a garage and a little backyard. In the backyard it has a Goiaba tree and we will be able to eat it. It also has a big gate in the front and the wall has an electric fence that works to keep out intruders. With my card I can pull out money but I cant look at my account info online, it says that my online access has been blocked so if you could talk with them and send me my login in and my password just to know if its right that would be great. Dad I am still waiting on those fotos of the rec center and one thing that I would love for Christmas is photos of the last years happenings and of the family that would be wonderful. I love you all and thanks for praying for me and please continue to pray for my success here in the mission field. Thursday the 21st is my one year mark and the 22nd is Olivia's birthday so tell her a happy birthday from her Uncle James and then give her a hug and a kiss. I love you all very much and until next week.

Love Elder Crittenden

e-mail of October 11th.

Dear Dad and Mom,

WOW things are going good here in the mission and here in Acailandia. So this past week was a little bit slow going for the work but flew by in terms of time. Like I said I had a 12 hour bus ride to Teresina on Tuesday, we left at 9 in the morning and got there at about 9 at night when we got there we grabbed the bus to the staffs apartment that is where we stayed for the night and I met my new companion there. So my new comps name is Elder Costa and he is from Manaus Brasil, he arrived from the MTC this past week and I am training him about everything in our mission. This is his first area in the mission field and thus far he likes it a lot. I like to joke around with him a lot and I am having a good time with him. He knows how to

cook pizzas and other things so I talked him into making pizzas on my one year mark in the mission. I cant believe how fast that the time is flying by here in the mission, I dont know if it is flying by there at home but it is here. So to tell you a little bit about the cities and the people here quite a few people have cars but it is more common to have a motorcycle here or like a moped. I have seen some of the most amazing things here in Brasil of people carrying things on motorcycles and bicycles. My last comp Elder Donizeti said on his first day in Teresina he saw 5 people on one motorcycle a man and his family and I have seen some things just as incredible. So alot of the roads are just cobblestone but alot are paved with asphalt too. The bus ride to Teresina was cold, those buses have some of the best air conditioners I have ever seen and in fact because of the two days in the freezing cold bus I got a little bit sick but I am better now. So this past week we met some new investigators and yesterday actually my comp and I taught a man and these two girls and it was a really powerful lesson. These people had a lot of questions and it was just really cool I could tell that they were accepting what we were saying and now we just have to see if they will pray and find out for themselves. We have gotten a lot of references from members this past week and so we will have a lot of work in front of us this week. We didn't have any baptisms yet but we should have some this week and next week if they don't fall through. To answer some of the questions from the letters I still cant access my online account for my debit card it has been blocked. I also still haven't got my birthday package but hopefully here soon I will get it. I don't know what I need for Christmas I have everything that I need and I just barely got a package so its a little bit soon to be sending another one so soon. My shoes are holding up well, at least one pair is. I will take some pictures and send them to you and have you forward them to Doug's dad and if he could just send them home they would be great to have when I get off of the mission. They are okay to use every once in a while but for walking in the streets of Brasil they just don't hold up but my other pair is still really good. I don't really have much else to say about the week, but I love you all very much and thanks for everything that you do for me. Until next week.

Elder Crittenden

e-mail for October 4th

Dear Dad and Mom,

This past week was alright. We had a lot of appointments fall through and it was a little bit difficult too, because it was the end of transfers. We didn't have any baptisms this week it fell through so that was sad. The weeks are sure flying by for me here I can't believe it. I am so excited to hear that Lex got his call. That is so cool that he will be my neighbor, kind of. I am glad that you got to find the apartment that we are living in. I don't know how much longer that we will be living there because we had a little bit of a mix up with the owner and we might be moving now. It's a really complicated thing, but were in the process of finding a new home here to live in. So I really liked conference a lot. The talks were really good and I felt really uplifted. I didn't get the chance to watch the priesthood session but I will read the talks here next month. Like I said we had transfers this week and my companion was transferred to Teresina. He will train a new missionary and he will also be District leader there in Teresina. I will stay here as District leader in Açailandia but I will also be training a new missionary WHOO HOO I am going to have a son haha. My sons name is Elder Costa I don't know where he is from or much else about him except his name but I have to go to Teresina tomorrow for a meeting with President on Wednesday and then I will get my new comp and come back here to Açailandia. It is a 13 hour bus ride so I will have plenty of time to sleep and rest in time for the meeting. So I haven't got my birthday package yet but probably tomorrow in the office I will get it. So that's about all that happened this past week and I will try and write to those that wrote me. Tell Jessica to write me that would be cool I love you all and until next week. Dad I would like to see the rec center so take pics and send them to me thanks

Elder Crittenden